The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

By: Christine Hammond, LMHC, NCC Dysfunctional fathers are constantly in the news: those who abuse, abandon, neglect, or even kill their children. While it is a sensational headline, too much makes it look like all dads are bad. Unfortunately, not much attention is paid to excellent fathers. They rarely receive any attention at all and are frequently tossed in the dysfunctional section for some minor offense. The good fathers pay attention to the developmental stages of their children and mold their parenting to meet their child’s needs. They successfully navigate through joy and sadness as their child passes to another stage in life. Most importantly, these dads know how to care for their child without being too overprotective. It is a delicate balance and one worth striving to achieve. Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development serves as a parenting guideline. Please note that these stages will be discussed from a paternal perspective due to the natur...

By Christine Hammond, MS, LMHC Sally was on high alert. Her husband called earlier in the day to let her know that he lost a large account at work. While he seemed flip about it then, she was preparing herself for a meltdown later that night. In anticipation of his arrival, she got the kids ready for bed, fed them, helped them with their homework, and let them watch a movie upstairs. She frantically straightened up the house, made dinner for just them, and put her phone on silent so they won’t be interrupted. Then she waited. He came home in a good mood. Kissed her and the kids made small talk and then went to change his clothes. Sally was shocked by his calm behavior and began to rest. But then the smoke alarm went off and she realized that dinner was burning in the oven. She leaped into action taking out the burned meal, turning on the exhaust fan, and opening the windows. As the alarm went off, she breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she had avoided another crisis....

By Christine Hammond, MS, LMHC Sabrina was at her wit’s end. Her narcissistic ex-husband hit an all-time low. During their marriage, she was the target for his angry rants, verbal assaults, gaslighting, and guilt-tripping. But now his attacks seemed to center around just one of their two kids. Unfortunately, it was their ten-year-old child who most resembled Sabrina’s personality that was his new target. Their twelve-year-old child seemed to escape his scrutiny despite the recent in-school suspension and two failing grades. But it was the ten-year-old who was quiet, generally compliant, and rarely got into trouble that Sabrina’s ex attacked. Sabrina watched in horror as her child shut down, became unnecessarily anxious, was newly fearful, and depressed. Afraid that her child would become like her, Sabrina knew she had to speak to him. However, the last time she confronted him, he slapped her with a motion to modify parenting agreement accusing her of parental alienatio...